


QMS 12

by Deacon_Heller



Series: Quantum Mirror Series [18]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 09:49:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30087264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deacon_Heller/pseuds/Deacon_Heller
Summary: While exploring a desert planet SG 10 find a derelict Ancient science vessel and Colt is unable to resist pushing a shiny red button that will change his life forever. While supervising a team of scientists examining the ship the gate stops working and strands them on that world.
Series: Quantum Mirror Series [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965412
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	QMS 12

"Woooo-ach-cough-cough!" Colt choked as he emerged from the stargate into the dusty wind on the brilliant white sun-blasted desert world. "Ugh, eat it desert planet!"

"Oh yeah, it's a hot one!" Ford smirked, as he walked down the steps into the sand. 

"It is in fact hot, but not the hottest world I have ever visited," Natock agreed, as he looked around in his new sunglasses. "Though Tau'ri sun-glasses do make it less unpleasant."

"Oh yeah, they're pretty helpful," Ford said, as the gate closed behind them. "Ok, Jac-bot's not here, but he would say a tribe of desert dwellers similar to Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt," 

"I miss Jac-bot," Colt said. 

"As do I," Natock agreed. 

"So, what's the over?" Ford asked, pointing to Natock. 

"An empty Naquadah mine," The Jaffa answered. 

"And the under?" Ford pointed at Colt. 

"Why am I the under?" Colt asked. 

"Because you are under my command."

"Be honest, do you really think I listen to you?"

"The under," Ford repeated. 

"Giant sand worms."

"Predictable, but still something I would like to see," Ford called out as the three men slowly drifted apart, walking up a dune ahead of the gate. 

"As would I," Natock agreed. 

"So, when are we getting Jac-bot back? Colt asked. 

"Apparently Miss Gray thinks that we created an unnecessary android shortage when we secured that ship carrying the Organism, so...not any time soon," Ford answered. 

"Aww, I liked Jac-bot," Colt said. 

"The official reason I was given is that there was a recent string of important archeological finds, and they needed his expertise," Ford said, as he reached the top of the dune and took out his binoculars, scanning the horizon. 

"You do not believe this reason?" Natock said. 

"I went to the droid factory. I saw what it was like. They can make more Jac-bots any time they want," Ford looked over at Natock. "She's holding out on us."

"Then that makes us..." Colt began. 

"Don't say it," Ford said, pointing to Colt. 

"The Three Amigos!" Colt shouted out over the desert.

"I told you not to say it," Ford sighed. 

"The Three Amigos," Natock smiled. "I like this."

"No, you don't, that's an order!" Ford said, as he began down the dune, pointing at Natock.

"What is an amigo?" Natock asked Colt.

They walked on for two more miles until Ford noticed the look on Natock's face.

"What's wrong? You've been looking angrier than usual," Ford said to Natock. 

"It is nothing."

"If it was nothing you would look, less..." Ford waved his hand over his face. "I don't know, Jaffa."

"Tulol is under a tremendous amount of pressure from our people."

"About what? You guys are settled in, you're safe. You have your own counsel."

"I know that seems like a great arrangement to the Tau'ri, but there is still a sense of dependence. We have other needs, as well."

"Like what?"

"Symbiotes."

"What do you mean?"

"Many young Jaffa are reaching the age of Prim'Ta. They will need symbiotes or they will grow sick and die."

"Oh, that."

"Joining the Tau'ri has been a great strain on our people, and if we don't secure more symbiotes soon things will become much worse."

"So, we'll start yanking snakes from enemy Jakes."

Natock scowled. 

"We can do that, can't we?"

"We could."

"But?"

"It is considered highly dishonorable, and my people feel like most of their honor has already been stripped from them."

"I can't imagine how hard this must be for you, for all of you."

"Tulol is doing his best, and with each victory my people feel a little more like themselves, but it's not enough."

"We'll get you a world, and we'll help you set up a new life."

"I respect your intentions, and I believe that you mean it, but many of my people still do not trust the Tau'ri."

They walked on in silence for twenty minutes before Colt broke the growing tension.

"I know, let's play eye spy," Colt said, as he walked twenty feet behind Ford. "I spy with my little..."

"Is it an ansible?" Ford interrupted him. "Do you spy an ansible for Alpha yet. What's the deal? When am I gonna have internet?"

"Me and one of the Carter's have put together a prototype, but there are still some bugs," Colt shrugged. "Turns out real time communication across a galaxy involves a lot of math."

"Don't care, make it work. I want internet," Ford growled.

"Yeah, you should be live streaming porn in...a week."

"You have two days."

"I can't possibly do it in less than a month." 

"Your humor continues to elude me," Natock said, from several yards behind Colt. 

"That's because he's not funny," Ford said, as he stopped. The Marine pulled down his sunglasses and looked through his binoculars. 

"My sense of humor is very dry," Colt said, as he stopped beside Ford, and glanced in the direction Ford was looking.

"What does that mean? A dry sense of humor?" Natock asked, as he stopped and looked.

"It means no one understands his jokes," Ford answered. "I got a possible in the distance, about two clicks."

"Seriously?" Colt asked. "Another partially buried ship? I mean...are we really..."

Ford began walking down the dune towards the ship in the distance. 

"I guess we are," Colt said. "Natock, your thought's...oh, you're just going to follow him. Should have seen that coming," Colt shook his head as he followed Ford and Natock. "I'm just going to say it now, we need a nuke on standby from now on. A great big one."

They crossed the blistering sand to the ship. It was a large ship but only the forward canopy was still visible, the rest of the ship had been engulfed by a tall sand dune. "Looks like it's been here a while," Ford commented, as they stood in front of it.

"No desert is truly lifeless," Natock commented. "Even if nothing lives in the sands, the desert itself is alive. It breaths and moves. The sands devour or reveal secrets."

"Poet, philosopher, warrior," Ford smiled, as he looked down from the ship at Natock.

"So, Jaffa really are the Samurai of space," Colt agreed. 

"Lame!" Ford scolded Colt.

"What?" Colt sputtered. 

"You ruined the moment," Ford growled.

"You did," Natock agreed.

"No, I di..."

"Come on, let's find a door into this thing," Ford sighed. "Start digging."

"You guys are lame," Colt mumbled as he slipped his backpack off and dug out his folding shovel.

The three of them dug into the dune along the side of the ship for almost an hour before they found a hatch. 

"Alright, open it up," Ford told Colt, pointing to the panel beside the hatch.

"Seriously?" Colt asked. 

"Yeah."

"Do I look like I have the keys or something?"

"Come on, pick the lock, let's go. It ain't getting any cooler out here," Ford insisted. 

Colt looked at Natock, but the Jaffa just nodded at him. Colt rolled his eyes and took a multi tool from a pouch in his belt. He pried the panel open and poked around inside for a few moments before the hatch unsealed and let out a hiss of stale air. Ford and Natock pushed the hatch inward. Ford retrieved his rifle and stepped into the hatch. 

"I claim this ship in the name of..." Ford was cut off.

"Coltopia!" Colt blurted out, poking his head in the hatch behind Ford. "Ha ha, nailed it."

"I do not believe that it was in fact, nailed," Natock said, with a grin as he pushed past Colt carrying his rifle into the ship.

They walked through the hallway of the ship, following Ford. They examined the walls as they walked. 

"So, what are we thinking...Ancient?" Ford asked. 

"Looks that way," Colt agreed. 

"Fantastic," Ford mumbled. 

They walked the interior of the ship from end to end before they found the room with the canopy poking out from under the dune. The room was large and oval shaped. There were two seated stations at the front of the room, set behind half circle panel made of three different sections. 

"Bridge?" Ford asked.

"Bridge," Colt guessed. 

In the center of the room was a raised chair, with a panel set on each arm. On each side of the room there was another seated station against the wall facing a set of three screens. At the rear of the room were two more seated stations. Ford slowly waved the light on his rifle over the room and finally walked up and ran his finger over the back of the chair in the center of the room. 

Ford rubbed the dust between his fingers, holding them in front of his light. "Very little dust in here considering how long this ship has been sitting in the desert."

"The ship may still be intact," Natock said. "If so, it could mean that it is still functional."

Ford looked around the bridge with his flashlight. "So, intact Ancient ship with no Sleeping Beauties to be seen."

"It would appear so," Natock agreed. 

"Yeah, thank god for that," Colt agreed.

"Ok, fire it up," Ford told Colt.

"Oh, hang on, let me just push the, uh...fire it up button," Colt scowled, as he touched a key on the console. "Guess that wasn't it, let me just..." Colt began pressing other random keys as he stared at Ford. "Oh look...nothing." 

Colt knelt down in front of the forward left seated control station. Colt took out his multi tool and pried the front cover panel loose. Colt took a small flashlight from a pouch on his chest and put it in his mouth so he could see what he was doing. 

"You gonna hot wire it?" Ford asked. 

"Yeah, it's pretty much just a red to red, and black to black situation," Colt said, taking the flashlight out of his mouth and pointing it at Ford's face.

"Really?" Ford asked. 

"No, not really!" Colt squinted in frustration at Ford.

Ford rolled his eyes. 

Colt tapped his finger from crystal to crystal until he chose one to remove. He set it on top of the console and reached into another pouch on the side of his belt. Colt took out a crystal of Ancient design connected to a USB cable. He inserted it into the open slot and unstrapped the computer from his chest as he sat down in the station's seat. 

"You think you can operate the computer?" Natock asked. 

"Well, these guys were the gate builders, which means we've been playing with their technology for a while now, and we've got plenty of their text reference." 

"They just leave it laying around like they're tagging planets," Ford mumbled. 

"Yeah, they do. Me and the Jac-bots have been working on translation programs, and interface crystals," Colt said, pointing to the front of the console where the crystal was plugged in. "Alright, I think I got it. It should just be..." Colt stopped typing looking up around the bridge.

Colt and Natock looked around, waiting, but nothing happened. 

"Ummm?" Ford asked.

"Yeah, I thought that was going to be more...well, just, more," Colt said, as he resumed typing in his computer. "You know what, this is going to take a while."

Ford sat down in the chair beside Colt and put his feet up on the console in front of him. He pushed on the seat to see if it would recline, but he didn't push very hard. Natock chose another seat and sat down. He closed his eyes, and his breathing became slow and rhythmic. 

An hour passed before Colt spoke again. "Ok, I think it got it..."

Ford looked around, but nothing happened once again.

"Yeah, I got it," Colt said. He sat back in the seat.

"Doesn't really look like you got an..." Ford stopped when the lights on the ships bridge blinked on. "Never mind."

"Yeah, I had to dig through a bunch of crap to find my way into the ships computer," Colt said. "The interface is still in the beta testing phase. Me and Dr. Bloom are still making corrections and upgrades." 

"So, you gonna upgrade me control of the ship any time today?" 

"Seriously?" Colt asked, looking up at Ford. "Ships' been here for like, a million years, and you want all of this right now?"

"Five minutes ago, would have been better."

"Why don't you go play outside? See if you can find some Spice, or better yet some sand worms." 

"Right, I find a sand worm, you start riding it around, and I have to explain to General Willis why you won't come home," Ford said, as he walked off the bridge with Natock. 

"Long live the fighters," Colt mumbled, as began typing again. 

Ford returned to the bridge two hours later and saw Colt sitting in the command chair, reading ship files on the center window of the canopy. It also functioned as the main screen for the bridge. The room was washed in the same a pale white light as the rest of the ship. 

"Outstanding, you got the ship working?" Ford asked. 

"Yes and no."

"Why isn't it ever just good news?"

"I think the ship is intact, but the power source is drained. I mean, we got lights, but that's about it."

"So?"

"Good news, bad news, good news."

Ford sighed in frustration. 

"The ship is intact, the power source is depleted, but I think we can substitute it," Colt smiled at Ford. "Say it."

"No," Ford said, as he started walking away. 

"Say it," Colt said louder. 

"NO!"

"Say it!" Colt shouted at Ford. 

"You rock," Ford finally admitted over his shoulder. 

"Yes, I do," Colt grinned. 

Ford walked across the dunes back to the gate and dialed Alpha. "This is Sergeant Ford for General Willis."

"Stand by," A woman's voice responded. 

"This is General Willis," He announced after a moment.

"Sir, we have found what appears to be a ship built by the Ancients," Ford said.

"What condition is it in?" Willis asked.

"It seems to be fully intact. Colt is running diagnostics on it now. It looks like the ship was parked out in the desert and the wind blew the dunes around over time and covered most of it. Its power source is almost completely depleted, but Colt thinks that we can power it with a Naquadah generator."

"Understood. I'll send one through shortly, with a technician to help configure an adapter."

"Yes Sir, I'll wait by the gate," Ford said, tapping his earpiece. The gate closed and he walked over to the bottom step, sat down and leaned back putting his boonie hat on his face and closed his eyes. He adjusted his rifle down the center of his chest and crossed his arms over it. 

An hour later the gate reopened, and a tall, thin white-haired man came through with a flatbed M.A.L.P. beside him. He operated it with a control pad connected to it by a long cable.

"Dr. Hess," Ford greeted him.

"Good..." The thin man in the plain kaki coveralls looked around and then at the sun. "Afternoon? It is afternoon here isn't it?" 

"Sure, we'll call it afternoon," Ford said, standing up. 

"I'm very excited to see an Ancient ship," He said. 

"Yeah, you see one alien ship, you've seen them all," Ford said, as he turned and headed towards the dunes. 

"I suppose," The thin man said. "This is the first time I've been off-world, well off of Alpha Base out in the field."

"Desert."

"Yes, the desert," He corrected himself. "It's so hot."

"Desert," Ford repeated, pointing sideways at a dune. 

"Do you ever get used to it?"

"Well people in Africa, Asia, India, and Arizona have."

"Yes, I see your point."

"After you plug that thing in, I'll ask Colt to fire up the AC."

"The ship has that?"

"They did build the gates. I'm guessing that they mastered air conditioning technology, but I could be wrong," Ford said, as he waited at the top of the dune. 

When the thin man finally reached the ship and dragged the Naquadah generator into the bowls of the ships engine room he began preparing an interface. Ford ordered Colt to help him, but after ten minutes Colt was ready to peel off his own face from frustration. The thin man was unused conditions outside of his laboratory on Alpha and took a great deal of time to be sure of each step in the connection of the generator. Colt on the other hand, was used to building bombs on the run, under fire.

Colt stood behind the thin man as he knelt down and plugged the crystal interface into one slot after another, slowly and carefully replacing each crystal after he blew the dust off and wiping it with a white cloth. Colt stared at the back of the thin man's head, scowling. Ford came in just in time to see Colt reaching forward to choke the scientist.

"So, how's this going?" Ford asked. Colt stood up quickly as the thin man turned around to look at Ford. 

"We're making breakneck progress," Dr. Hess announced.

"Breakneck, really?" Ford asked. "Can I just borrow Colt from you for a few minutes?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"Oh, my, God!" Colt said, out in the hall after the door shut. "That guy is the slowest person in the galaxy!"

"You can't say that for sure, we've been to less than one percent of the worlds in this galaxy," Ford grinned. "There could theoretically be someone even slower."

"Seriously, he wiped down each crystal with a white chamois before he put it back into its slot! You know who does that? Crazy people. He's a crazy person."

"Yeah, that must be rough, working with a crazy person," Ford snickered. 

"You don't get it. I'm getting this sharp, reoccurring pain in my left temple."

"Stop! I can't take any more!" Ford stopped to lean against Colt because he was laughing so hard.

"I think I'm losing it man!"

"Ahhhhh!"

"I have to go and explore this ship, or I'm gonna stick a Zat in my mouth and pull the trigger." 

Ford stood laughing as Colt walked down the hall. 

Colt walked around the ship for twenty minutes until he found a door that wasn't locked. He walked in and looked around for a few seconds before he realized it was a lab. A single console with a chair sat in the center of the room, and on the floor in front of the console sat a small round pad. A matching pad hung from the ceiling directly above it.

"Ancient transporter pad?" Colt wondered out loud. He sat down and tried initiating the system, but nothing happened. "Must not be enough power."

Colt slumped back in the seat, and then all the lights in the ship lit up, and suddenly a deep hum came from deep within the ship. "Finally!" Colt yelled as he threw his hands up and shook his fists.

"Aright, let's see what weirdness these guys were into," Colt said, as he activated the console. Three fields of holographic text appeared over the console, floating silently in the air. "Genetic Optimizer, that sounds fun."

Colt sat and read the text for several minutes before he got through the instructions and determined the function of the device. The machine was designed to fully map the participants genome and label each piece. Once the genome was full broken down, they would pick and choose which genes to alter to achieve specific outcomes. 

Colt scrolled through what the experiments were targeting. The Ancients were very eager to eliminate genetic defects by eliminating any that were carried in their genes. Colt wished that they could just push a button and do the same on Earth. He read on and saw that they were also focused on drastically upgrading the immune system to speed up injury recovery and make themselves immune to a variety lethal factors such as viruses, poisons, and radiation. 

Colt scratched the back of his head as he scrolled down further and examined the next section that involved boosting intelligence. 

“Hmm. I guess they weren’t always annoyingly smart. What else did you do?”

Colt read deeper into the readouts and saw that they were also trying to improve their overall physical health. The scans showed that some of the many genes targeted would increase the density of the outer few microns of their bones, making them virtually unbreakable. The next set of changes increased muscle density and muscle fiber recruitment. Scrolling further revealed that the next set of changes were designed to increase the efficiency of organ functions. 

“Organ function? Well, my liver could use an upgrade,” Colt mumbled. “Wait, they’re also including the eyes and ears. Are those even organs?”

He read further into that section of the text for a few seconds before sitting back and laughing. 

“Unbreakable bones, super strength, enhanced senses? They were trying to turn themselves into Wolverine without the claws. Sounds like a summer blockbuster," Colt mumbled. "They should get Brad Cooper."

The research only followed the subjects for twenty-two years before the experiment was interrupted. The scientists and the subjects were called away from this science station to work on something else, and the experiment was brought to an end. 

Colt sat back and tried to correlate the timeline from when the study was abandoned with what little he knew of the Ancients, what they were doing, and when. The study predated all mention of ascension through meditation or mechanical assistance. 

"Well, if it's not an ascension machine...yeah...yeah, I should be fine." Colt muttered to himself as he sat forward and began setting the machine. "They were working with the machine on one percent, and they started documenting results after four years." 

Colt sat back in the chair and thought for a second. "Who has that kind of time?" 

Colt sat forward and began adjusting the settings on the panel. "We'll just bump this up to...well, one hundred percent just seems greedy. Seventy five percent? No, I don't want extra arms or anything. If one percent took a few years for them to start showing signs, let's see what...fifty percent does."

Colt worked for the next half hour going through line by line changing the settings on each of the individual enhancements before he stood up and stepped onto the platform. He waited for a few seconds and began to wonder if the machine was still functional when a light overhead washed down on him. It felt strangely warm and cool at the same time. 

"Hmm! Tingly." Colt mumbled. "I wonder how long it ta..." 

The light overhead switched off and the feeling subsided. Colt looked up and waited a few seconds before he stepped off the platform and sat back behind the counsel. He rubbed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Tastes like pennies."

He examined the readings and saw that the machine recorded his initial DNA for a baseline comparison, and the alteration made to his DNA. The results were too complicated for Colt to fully understand. 

"Well, apparently I'm fifty percent better now. Cool. Wonder what that's going to look like, or if the machine is still functional," Colt stood up and grabbed his rifle from the floor beside the chair and walked out of the room. "Well, the rest of the ship ain't gonna explore itself."

Colt got up and walked the rest of the ship. Now that the ship had more power Colt could open doors and check each of the other laboratories. The first two were open, and a quick scan of the equipment in the room gave him the impression that they were running chemistry experiments. 

Colt moved on to the last lab, but the door was locked. He tried to crack the door code for twenty minutes before he gave up and made his way back to the bridge. Colt sat in the command chair and accessed the ships controls. 

He dug through the ships functions until he found the code to open the heavy blast shielding that covered windows of the bridge. As the shields opened the bridge flooded with yellowish orange sun light. The star was close to Earth's in size and color, but there was no mistaking the sun of your own home world. 

Colt searched for the diagnostic functions and then realized that he could activate the same display as a floating holographic screen over the command seat. He tried it, but all the lights on the bridge dimmed significantly. Colt looked up at the bridge lights, and frowned, realizing that it was a heavy power draw he quickly deactivated it. Instead, he just left it on the small screen on the right arm console.

"You find anything else while you were poking around?"

"I walked the rest of the ship, and there are four labs. The first has a genetic manipulation machine like the one SG1 found Niirti playing with. The next two labs were running some kind of bio experiments,” Colt said glancing down at the console. “The last one is just listed as running an ecology experiment. The first one was the only lab that wasn’t locked up tight." 

"You couldn't crack ‘em? What about everything else?" Ford asked waving his finger around the ship. 

"Running diagnostics right now," Colt said. "Looks like...all the ships systems are fine. All we need is more power."

"How much?"

"Give me a second..." Colt walked over to the console his computer was attached to and sat down. He began typing for a few seconds before he looked up to Ford, "...15 Naquadah generators should be enough."

"Fifteen?"

"Fourteen point four, I’m rounding up."

"Ok, I'm going to report back to Alpha and give them the update," Ford said, as he walked away.

"Hang on, you don't have to," Colt said. He got up and walked over to the right forward station and he sat down. "Check this out." 

Ford looked down and saw a panel of keys with the same constellations as the DHDs. "We can dial from here?" Ford asked. 

"Let me make sure," Colt said, as he keyed in the address for Alpha Base. "Try it." Colt nodded to Ford. 

"Alpha Base this is Sergeant Ford?" Ford said, tapping his earpiece. 

"Go ahead Sergeant." A voice came back. 

"Nice," Ford whispered to Colt. "SG 10 status report, we have powered up the ships systems."

"Sergeant Ford?"

"Yes General," Ford stood up slightly straighter. 

"Give me some good news, Sergeant."

"The generator gave us enough power to operate the ships systems and run diagnostics."

"And?"

"It seems to be fully intact, but it just lacks power."

"What will it take to get it off the ground and send it home?" Willis asked.

"Colt ran the numbers and he thinks that fifteen Naquadah generators will be sufficient to get the ship back to Earth." 

"I'm not sure that the SGC has fifteen of them just laying around." General Willis replied. 

"Well, if you don't ask the answer is no," Colt chimed in. "Besides, for an ancient ship with unknown science secrets I think the SGC will find them."

"I'll see what I can do," Willis replied, "In the meantime I've got a team of scientists climbing over each other to get into that ship."

"Are you sending them right now? We don't have anything set up yet."

"Gray is...insistent."

"Understood, Sir."

"Alpha will contact you in one hour with further orders."

Ford's coms went silent when the gate closed. 

"We're going to be hosting some scientists until they can collect enough generators to get this bird in the air," Ford said to Colt. 

An hour later Ford and Natock were waiting by the gate with the flat bed M.A.L.P back to the gate. 

“Dr. Hess will be very excited to get more generators,” Natock said to Ford as the gate opened. 

“So will Colt, we’ll need to keep a close eye on him,” Ford agreed. He tapped his earpiece, "Alpha, we’re in position." 

"We're sending the team through now," A female voice came from the other side of the wormhole.

"Standing by."

Four scientists came through the gate, each carrying large plastic cases and equipment. Ford waited for them to orient themselves and get used to the heat. For at least three of them it was the first time they'd been anywhere other than Alpha.

"They're all here Alpha," Ford said, tapping his earpiece. He waved them to a spot in front of the gate to wait for everyone to get ready to move, noting that each scientist was from a different country. Ford felt the IOA, and Gray herself, behind this group. His stomach began to knot. The situation had just become political. Ford preferred combat over politics. 

"We're putting each of the generators through," She said. "We were able to secure eight."

"Copy that," Ford scowled. As each one slid through the gate Ford handed it over to Natock, who put it on the flat bed. Once they were all through Natock secured the generators to the M.A.L.P. "We have all eight."

"Try not to lose any of them, and make sure the team stays hydrated."

"I'll keep 'em fed and watered, Alpha," Ford said, tapping his earpiece. After the gate closed, he turned and faced them. "Alright, grab you gear and follow me."

"Sergeant could you give me a hand with..." Dr. Higgs, a short thick man with spectacles began to ask. 

"Can't," Ford said, as he turned around and faced the man as he held up his rifle. "My hands are full."

The scientist scowled at Ford's back and wiped his forehead with his sleeve before he picked up his cases and struggled after him. Ford ignored their complaints of the heat, and the sand. The Marine stopped twenty feet ahead of the gate and waited for them to catch up. When a hunched elderly woman passed him with her cases Ford rolled his eyes. "Here, let me help you with that." 

Ford picked up the large black plastic case she was carrying with his left hand. "I'll take this Dr. Radnitz."

"Oh sweetie, call me Gerta," She smiled at him. 

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Gerta," She corrected, as she straightened up and quickly walked past him.

"Well played Doctor," Ford smiled, as the old woman deftly strode up the dune. When the ship was in sight he turned and looked back at them. "Come on people, we got the AC on inside."

Natock trailed behind them with the M.A.L.P., careful to make sure they made it to the ship intact.

Inside the ship Ford escorted Higgs back to the engine room while Natock took the rest of them to the bridge. Colt met them at the door of the bridge. "Ok, who's looking for what?"

"Weapons?" Dr. Bovet asked. 

"Forward left station," Colt pointed out. "I'll get my computer off of that."

"Shields?" Gerta asked, holding up one finger. 

"That station is on the wall over there," Colt pointed to the left side of the bridge. As Gerta began walking towards the location Colt indicated, he looked back at remaining scientist, Dr. Amano. 

"Ancient technology," Amano said.

"Right," Colt nodded. "Well, just pick something I guess."

Ford returned to the bridge a moment later. Colt and Natock walked over to meet him by the command chair. 

"Hess is hooking up the eight generators that came through with them," Ford pointed at the scientists. 

"All they sent were eight generators?" Colt demanded.

"Yup," Ford agreed. 

"I said fifteen."

"I heard you. So did General Willis, and this is what they sent."

"It's not going to be enough."

"I get that, but you need to understand that we aren't the only team running around hassling the Goa'uld."

"Yeah, yeah, safety of the universe. Whatever."

"Figure out what you can do with what we got. That's why I keep you around."

"You're kill'n me Ford," Colt growled as he walked over and took his computer from the weapons station and sat in the navigation station to the right. He dropped into the seat and slammed his computer on the console. "Kill'n me!" Colt shook as he shouted, without looking up from his computer. 

Ford grinned as he sat down in the command chair.

Once each of the scientists were at work Ford fingered the control on the left arm of the chair. The forward window of the ship's canopy instantly darkened. No longer could he see the desert in front of the ship, but instead it showed him a camera vantage from the engine room. 

Ford watched as the short sweaty man began attaching his computer to the main console of the engineering room. Ford pressed the button, and the screen switched to another room with where Hess was laying the generators out in a row and connecting them together. He went through each of the rooms in the ship. 

Unlike the last derelict ship Ten found, this one didn't have an angry Lovecraft monster stalking the dark halls looking to eat them all. Ford glanced over at Colt, who was sitting behind the keyboard of the navigation station reading the ships logs. 

Natock spent the watch walking the ship, and rechecking everything again and again before went outside and walked the perimeter of the ship. Next, he spread out and walked from dune to dune around the ship, scanning the desert to the horizon. The Jaffa had difficulty standing still and waiting. 

Ford found the discovery of the ship both exciting and relieving. He could spend most of his time watching everyone through the ships camera system and nothing was trying to kill him. He was very happy to be the team that discovered the ship. He hoped it would be enough to earn back Jac-bot, at least. 

Ford's team currently had the highest mortality rate of any SG team. There were no more volunteers for his team, and General Willis wasn't assigning him any replacements. He knew that some people called his team “The Dead Presidents” behind his back.

Ford suspected he was on the verge of losing his command, and the only reason it hadn’t happened yet was because no one else wanted to take Colt on their team. While Colt was dangerously reckless at times, too dangerous to keep on Earth, he was also far too valuable not to use. It was understood that Ford was really the only person that could keep Colt pointed at the enemy. 

As the hours of silence drifted by Ford nodded off in the chair with his head on his hand. 

"Hey," Colt called out.

Ford's chin slipped from his hand. "Yeah, what...what did you do?" Ford asked, as he stood up.

"I didn't do anything, dick, I know what this ship was for," Colt snapped.

"What do the logs say?" Ford asked, as he walked over and looked at the computer screen Colt was reading. 

"The two bio labs were working on two different kinds of artificial organism meant to terraform inhospitable worlds, probably so they could add more worlds to the gate network,” Colt said.

“Another alien organism?”

“I know right, it’s like none of these aliens have ever seen The Thing,”

“Do NOT unlock those labs!” Ford pointed at Colt.

“Wasn’t gonna,” Colt shook his head. “I still can’t get into the logs for the ecology lab, so I’ve been reading more about the experiments on their DNA."

"What were they doing?"

"It looks like they fully labeled their genes and figured out how to isolate and alter certain traits. They were trying to tighten up their genetics by targeting their immune systems to resist all kinds of disease, speed up their healing. It was also meant to improving intelligence and memory. Stuff like that."

"Let's go take a look."

"I already did," Colt said. "The platform seems to be operational. They had about fifty test subjects over the course of the twenty-two-year experiment."

"Anything happen?"

"They started seeing good results towards the end of the study, but it got stopped abruptly. Everyone was recalled back to another location, but it doesn't say why anywhere."

"They never came back?"

"Doesn't look like it."

"Keep at it."

"Yup," Colt said, as he turned back to the screen. 

Ford stretched and left the bridge. He walked the ship and spoke with each of the scientists, one by one, to get updates on their progress. Then he returned to the bridge to check on Colt. "Tell me something good."

"We can send it home, but we're not going along for the ride." Colt said, to Ford. "I ran the numbers three times, and with only eight of the fifteen generators I asked for all I can power is the engines, nav, and shields. Essentially, it would just be on autopilot. At this power level the ship will fly at one thirtieth its minimum speed."

"How long will it take to get to Earth?"

"Surprisingly, not long," Colt said, as he stood up and stretched. "This world is pretty close to Earth, relatively speaking. If nothing happens to it on the way, it should get home in about three years."

"That's a long time to wait for Christmas. They're not going to be happy."

"Then tell them to cough up six more generators."

"Alright, I'll tell Alpha," Ford said, as he started walking away.

"You want me to dial from here?" Colt asked. 

"No, I'm bored, I need to go for a walk." 

"Ask them how long they want us to sit here and study it before we send it back. Then tell them to send through some more food. The food producers work, but whatever that goop they spit out is, it tastes like crap." 

"The food's crap, got it," Ford said. “Wait, it’s like a million years old. How is it still good?”

"In retrospect, I may have given myself food poisoning,” Colt looked to the side. 

“What is that, like the nineth time?”

“That’s not important.”

“You’re like a toddler, stop putting stuff in your mouth.”

“Ask for some pizza."

"Got it."

"Don't let them give you MRE's. Hold out for pizza! Zofran and pizza!" Colt shouted. "I would kill for a slice."

Ford stood at the DHD in the brilliant sunlight. He dialed Alpha, but the gate just made a weird noise and failed to lock. "The hell?" Ford dialed again, and again, and again. When it was clear that Alpha base wouldn't lock Ford tried Earth. It wouldn't lock either. He tried the Beta Base, the Gama site, and three more addresses of safe worlds. Nothing would engage. Ford knelt down and pulled the panel cover from the base of the DHD. He checked the crystals, but they were all in place and appeared to be working.

"Seriously?" Ford growled. He began taking each crystal out and cleaning it before slipping it back into place. "You work for a million years and you take a crap now?"

Ford tried Alpha again, but nothing happened. "Colt," Ford said tapping his earpiece, "We got a problem."

"Tell me it's not another organism!" 

"It's not another organism, the gate stopped working."

"What do you mean stopped working?"

"What part of that don't you understand?" Ford growled. I dialed the gate, but the addresses won't lock. Not Alpha, not Beta, not Earth. I've tried every address I know, and the gate won't lock on any of them."

"You try taking the crystals out and cleaning them off? This is a dusty..."

"I tried that! It doesn't work."

"Shit."

"Yeah," Ford agreed. "Try dialing from the ship."

"Hang on," Colt said.

The gate lit up chevron by chevron but didn't lock.

"Anything?" Colt asked.

"No, but now I know it's not the DHD," Ford said. "I'm coming back," Ford tapped his earpiece and started back towards the ship. "Damn it. Now I want pizza!" He mumbled. 

An hour later Ford stood on the bridge of the ship with Colt and Natock beside him as he spoke to the group of scientists in front of him. "Ok, we have a problem. The gate won't lock on any address, so we're stuck here for the time being."

"How long will that be?" Hess asked.

"At least...," Colt began counting on his fingers. "…ten more minutes. We don't know. That's what he's saying."

"How will we survive?" Dr. Amano, the Ancient technology specialist from Japan asked. 

"The situation really isn't that bad. The ship has power, and water stores. We’ve got enough supplies to ration for a while so we can survive here for a long time," Ford assured them. "All things considered this is as good as it gets for being stranded."

"Do you have any idea what's wrong with the gate?" Dr. Bovet, the weapons specialist from Italy asked. "Maybe we can fix it."

"I've got a sinking suspicion that it's something with the programming of the gate itself. I checked the DHD, and it looks fine. Colt tried dialing from the ship, and the problem was the same."

"Can we inspect it?" Bovet asked.

"Yes, please," Ford nodded. "Everyone take a look and see if you can fix it. Dr. Amano, you may have the best chance."

He nodded back at Ford. "Do we know if this is a Goa'uld attack against us?"

"Well, in this universe, I guess anything is possible," Ford conceded. "In the meantime, we're going to ration our food, but like I said this ship has its’ own water store so it won't become an emergency for a while." 

"You seem very calm," Bovet said to Colt.

"Yeah, I'm not worried," Colt said.

"The gate may be broken, forever, and you're not worried?" Bovet demanded.

"Nope, not even a little," Colt said, with a smile. "We've got like two hundred Carters scattered across the galaxy. There has to be at least one of them working on this right now. I bet the gates’ up and running by nightfall."

"Ok, he makes a good point," Ford conceded. Natock nodded. "We'll check the gate every six hours until it starts working again, but until it does everyone just go back to your work. This ship has crew quarters, I'll go check those now and let everyone know the sleeping arrangements shortly."

Five days passed and the gate remained unwilling to lock. After the first day Ford put Colt to the task of calculating the possibility of flying the ship back to Earth. He spent hour after hour using the ships computer to run various different scenarios, each one getting the ship to Earth a little bit sooner, but it was just a matter of shaving three to five years off of a five thousand year flight. 

While Colt waited for the computer to produce its calculations he spent time reading all of the ships logs. Once he finished those he returned to the machine and read the records of the experiment. It went long enough to collect a vast amount of data points on each participant and there were several graphs charting their progress. The increase was very slow, but it gave Colt an idea of what to expect. 

He began stepping back into the machine to chart himself the first night they became stranded. He was curious if he'd made himself better, or if he was going to turn into a mutant. He tracked himself day by day, but the computer always told him there were insufficient data points to graph any real progress. 

Colt reread the last entries for each of the participants and took note of their developments. Their immune systems were effectively enhanced and tested by exposing the subjects to existing curable diseases. Each subject resisted infection without the need for medical intervention. 

"Cool," Colt mumbled. 

There were other tests, including deliberate injuries to test the improved healing of the advanced immune systems, and each subject displayed varying levels accelerated healing. Colt was amazed that the subject showing the most improved healing actually grew back a severed fingertip. 

"He started going starfish, neat!"

Some of the less drastic results were; improved memory, increased physical efficiency, rising intelligence, and improved sense of sight and hearing. The scientist running the experiment speculated at the possibility of a much longer life span based on the results each participant was showing. He was cautiously optimistic that he had in fact doubled their life spans and created the possibility their off spring would continue to evolve naturally with each generation in an upward curve. The last entry that the lead scientist made after he was ordered to abandon the project gave Colt an ominous feeling. 

"I am crushed that I must abandon this experiment, which has yielded astounding results, but I understand what is at stake. I only hope that we can overcome the threat that we now face so that I might be able to return to my work and improve the lives of our race. I take solace in the fact that each of the participants will continue to improve, but I won’t be able to counteract the unforeseen side effects of the experiment."

"Wait, what?" Colt stuttered. "What side effects?"

"Any experiment dealing with the brain and drastically increasing intelligence will risk unforeseen consequences. Though most of participants have displayed positive effects, some may even be manifesting telekinesis, there have been a few that concern me. We have always suspected that higher intelligence is correlated with higher levels of aggression and sociopathic tendencies, and I fear that I may have proved our suspicions correct. Even in the face of the threat that we face now, I will try my best to continue observing these specific participants in the hopes that they do not become a danger to themselves or others."

"Great, I'm going to turn into Khan!" Colt growled as he sat back. 

On the sixth day Ford decided it was time to tell everyone that the ship wasn't going to be the way home. "Ok people, it's like this...we're stuck here."

"The ship can't take us home?" Amano asked.

"We don't have enough power. The Naquadah generators just don't give us the power to reach the speeds we would need to get back to Earth before we would all die of old age, wither away into dust, get recycled through the life support filters, and finally jettisoned into space."

"How long will it take the ship to get back to Earth?" Bovet asked. 

"It's a matter of numbers," Colt said. "If we take the ship we'll need to run the life support, and the shields, and the engines, and other systems. Everything that takes power away from the engines adds centuries to the flight. The only way this ship gets back to Earth in our life time is if there is no one on it."

"Do you plan to send this ship home and leave us all here to die?" Bovet demanded.

"No," Ford growled. "At the moment we don't know if there is an Earth to send it back to. Until the gate becomes operational again this ship is what is keeping us alive."

"We got a Gilligan's Island situation," Colt said. "We can live here indefinitely, but we're not going anywhere."

"Gilligan's Island?" Higgs, the engine specialist from England, asked. "How can you be so flippant about a life and death situation?"

"Maters of great concern should be treated lightly, and matters of small concern should be treated seriously," Colt shrugged. 

"Did you seriously just quote Hagakure?" Ford asked Colt, wide eyed.

"Besides, we've got five professors, and no Gilligan's," Colt smiled. "We'll be fine."

"That's a good point," Gerta said. "Well Sergeant, I'm sure you'll take great care of us."

"We will," Ford nodded, to the elderly scientist. "I suggest you all continue in your work and keep busy as best you can. That will make it easier for you."

"I wish to see his calculations," Bovet demanded, as he stood in front of Ford. 

"Colt, show him your math," Ford told him. 

"This way Doctor," Colt waved Bovet over to the navigation station he'd been running scenarios through. Colt activated the floating hologram screens over the station and keyed up the simulations. Then he stood up to let Bovet sit down and examine them. For the next week Bovet hovered over the station crunching the numbers, rerunning the simulations. He was convinced was hiding something.

On the eighth day Ford stepped onto the bridge in the middle of Bovet and Colt arguing. 

"I don't know what you're doing, but you're...Sergeant Ford!" Bovet called out to Ford. 

Ford saw the argument and instantly turned around the leave, but Bovet had seen him, and there was no escaping. Ford stopped and shrugged. He looked at the doors, but Bovet would just follow him out into the hall. He had before. 

"Sergeant, you must order Colt to present the correct numbers for his simulations," Bovet demanded.

"I did," Colt ground between his clenched teeth. 

"There you go," Ford pointed his hand at Colt. "He already did."

"He's obfuscating the situation!" Bovet insisted. 

"He showed you his math, you've been running your own simulations, what more do you want?"

"I want the truth."

"Doctor, you already have the truth." Ford sighed. "Look, you're frustrated. I understand. We all are, but you..."

"No!" Bovet snapped. 

"I'm out," Colt growled, as he walked past Bovet and Ford off the bridge. 

"The United States will not steal this technology from the rest of the world!" Bovet threatened Ford quietly. 

"We're not trying to," Ford assured Bovet. Ford rolled his eyes and walked off the bridge.

Ford walked out of the ships' side hatch into the sun just as a stone the size of bowling ball dropped just beside him. He instinctively jumped to the side and aimed his rifle over head at the top of the ship. Colt stood on top of the ship kicking rocks off. 

"I'm sure that's going to help!" Ford shouted, trying to decide if he just wing him.

"I'm sick of this planet. I'm sick of Bovet, and I'm sick of rationing MREs!" Colt growled as he kicked another stone off the ship. "We don't have enough power to get this bucket home before we all die!"

"I know!" Ford snapped. "Are you going to come down, or should I just fire?"

"I just need to kick things," Colt said, as he kicked another large stone from the ship, and began limping.

"Well stop doing it right over the door!" Ford yelled. 

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Colt screamed as he kicked another stone.

"Do it on the other side of the ship."

Natock emerged from the ship, looked at Ford, and then up at Colt as he limped badly on the top of the ship. "Is he injured?"

"I think he's cracking," Ford growled.

"His mind or his foot?"

"Well definitely his foot. I heard a bone crack on that last kick. No, I think his mind is cracking."

"That could be a serious problem."

"Ya think?" Ford nodded at Natock. "He likes to blow shit up for fun on a good day. I'm really not looking forward to finding out what he does on a bad day." 

Colt limped around the ship the following day speaking with each of the scientists about their specialties. First he spent a day with Higgs examining the engines and discussing the Ancient technology. By the end of the day Colt's understanding of the technology was close to Higgs.

The next day Colt visited with Hess, and discussed the Naquadah generators. Despite his disdain for Hess's slow methodical nature, Colt was still avoiding the bridge because Bovet wouldn't leave it. The following day Colt spent outside limping over the dunes with Natock, trying to learn as much Goa'uld as he could. Natock was surprised that Colt picked it up so quickly.

Tired of the sand and heat, Colt gave in and sat on the bridge with Gerta learning about the shields. Colt was relieved to see that Bovet had taken to simply ignoring him. The next day was less uncomfortable as Colt sat with Dr. Amano and learned more about the Ancient weapons systems. 

With nothing left to explore Colt urged Ford to let him lift the ship and shake the sand from it so they could be sure the ship would still fly. 

"We need to do it eventually." Colt insisted. 

"You just want to do it because you're bored."

"Still, that's no reason not to."

"Fine," Ford said, standing beside the command chair. He pressed the ship intercom. "This is Sergeant Ford, we are going to lift the ship up and shift the debris off today. Everyone secure your research and report in when you are ready."

Half an hour later Gerta told Ford she was ready and strapped in. 

"Ok, she was the last one. Let's do this!" Colt grinned, as he engaged the navigation systems. The engines spun up and the ship began to hum. "OK, in 3...2...1! Boop!" Colt said as he pushed the ignition. 

"Wait a sec-ahhh!" Ford said, from behind Colt as he turned to get into the command chair.

Colt pulled back on the stick and the ship lifted slowly from the ground. Ford staggered to reach the command chair. When the ship was twenty feet in the air, Colt jerked the stick hard to his left, until the ship was at a ninety degree angle to the ground. He held it there for a few seconds before he leveled the ship out and drifted it slowly towards the gate. 

"You suck." Ford growled, at Colt as he tilted his head back, pinching his nose closed. A streak of blood ran down the front of his uniform. 

"He did say to strap in," Natock said, looking around the side of the copilot chair he was strapped into.

"You both suck," Ford growled.

"Ok, setting down...now," Colt announced. The ship lurched hard as it dropped to the ground. Ford fell to the deck. "Alright, we're on the ground and we're next to the gate. Anyone that wants to, can get out and stretch their legs."

"You suck, so hard!" Ford slapped Colt in the back of the head. "Run diagnostics."

"Running them now," Colt grinned. "Don't bleed on the controls."

"I'm going to check the exterior," Ford said as he stomped off the bridge.

Colt turned and snickered at Natock. The Jaffa flashing him a mischievous grin. 

Later that night everyone sat around a round table in the center of the mess hall staring down at the now miniscule portions of their MRE rations. Colt swallowed the single lump of chicken that was his dinner, and tried to ignore Dr. Bovet, but he wouldn't stop arguing. 

"Flying back with the ship just isn't an option." Colt insisted, for the third time in the last five minutes. 

"Here we go." Bovet snapped. "He just wants us all of so he can slip back onto the ship and then hide it under Cheyenne Mountain. Then the United States will tell the rest of the world it never made it back."

"I showed you the math. I showed you the simulations. This isn't about keeping the ship from your country. This is about power. We don't, have, enough," Colt argued. "Besides, why would we keep it from your country? America and Italy are allies. You're no threat to us, you're like the nation state equivalent of a kangaroo."

"And what about the rest of you?" Ford asked, the other scientists. 

"None of us are as fluent in Ancient as Colt, but based on what I've seen his numbers check out. We just don't have enough generators to sustain engines and life support." Higgs answered. 

"Ok. We do it Colt's way." Ford said, as he stood up from the table.

"No. No. We don't have to do it his way. He said that there isn't enough power for life support and engines at maximum speed. If we slow the slow the speed of the ship we can free up enough power for the life support," Bovet insisted. 

"We could, but we won't." Ford countered. "Earth needs this ship back as fast as possible. We're at war, and this could hold something that may tip the balance in our favor."

"And this ships’ already going to be moving at one thirtieth its minimal speed at full power," Colt snapped. "I mine as well be pushing this thing home!"

"So it takes a little longer, so what?" Bovet snapped back. "It's worth the extra time for study."

"With all the Naquadah generators we need it would still at least ten months. If you divert power to life support, shields and all the other necessary systems it might take decades," Higgs sighed in frustration. 

"That's not acceptable." Ford said. "This ship needs to get to Earth as fast as possible. Period. End of discussion." 

"I can't believe you're just going to let them steal this from me. From us," Bovet shouted at them. He stared at the others, but no one would take his side. Finally he snarled and left the room, stomping away. 

"Can I Zat him?" Colt asked Ford quietly.

"Might come to that." Ford muttered, as he watched Bovet storm off. 

Ford watched the sun set from the top of the ship. Colt climbed up and sat down beside him. 

"How are we?" Ford asked. 

"We're good to go. I checked the systems three times and they all say the Hayes is space worthy."

"The Hayes?"

"Don't act like you didn't see that coming." 

Natock came up behind them and sat down. "They are all secure in their quarters."

"Tucked in tight," Ford muttered. "Good." He laid back and looked up at the stars. Colt and Natock did the same. "Did you ever do this?" Ford asked Natock. "Do the Jaffa ever just look at them?"

"Not with Tau'ri eyes," Natock said. "When you look at the stars you see a limitless universe to explore, one full of wonder and possibility. When a Jaffa looks up at the night sky he sees only stars surrounded by worlds filled with Jaffa they must one day murder for the glory of their god."

"That's rough," Colt said.

"All my life I have seen the stars with the eyes of a Jaffa, but I fight so that someday our children with see them with the eyes of the Tau'ri. Eyes that are not dimmed by the knowledge of endless war, but eyes that shine with hope."

"We'll get there together, brother," Ford said, as he reached out and put his hand on Natock's shoulder. Colt did the same.

The morning sky grew lighter and lighter as the three men slept on the top of the ship. The sound of the gate awoke Ford. He sat up and looked down the at the gate. He tapped his ear piece.

"This is Alpha Base calling Sergeant Ford, please respond."

"This is Ford, we're here," He answered, as he shoved Colt and Natock awake. 

"Sergeant Ford, report," General Willis's voice came over the radio.

"Sir, we're all present and accounted for."

"I'm glad to hear it Sergeant. How is the ship?"

"Intact and online, Sir, what happened to the gate? I know it wasn't Colt, because he was here with me," Ford growled. 

"It was one of the scientists in the SGC, Felger, he scrambled the dialing system and the correlative update program spread the problem across the entire galaxy, but Dr. Carter fixed it."

"Told you so," Colt mumbled, as without opening his eyes. 

"Everyone on Earth is very excited about your discovery. When can you send it?" Willis asked. 

"The Hayes is ready to lift off right now Sir," Colt grinned at Ford.

"The Hayes? I guess I should have seen that coming," Willis said. 

"We've just been waiting to find out if there was someplace left to send it to," Ford said. 

"Send it home Sergeant."

"Yes, Sir," Ford said, tapping his earpiece.

Half an hour later Ford and everyone else stood beside the gate as Colt took his chest unit off and opened it up. He typed for few seconds before he held it up to Ford. "You want to do the honors?"

"I don't know what the command is."

"Just press 'Enter'."

"Right," Ford said, as he reached out and pressed the key.

The ships engines ignited and spun up until the ship lifted off the ground and began moving towards the sky. 

"Ok people, let's g..." Ford stopped, as he looked around.

"What is it?"

"Where's what's his face? Dr. Bovet."

"Oh, son of a..." Colt said urgently.

"Everyone spread out and look for Bovet!" Ford ordered. After a few seconds it was clear that the scientist was gone.

Ford sighed as he watched the ship leave orbit. "He got what he wanted."

"He'll have years to study the ship." Higgs said.

"No, he won't." Colt said.

"Why not?" Ford asked. 

"I couldn't take the chance someone else might board the ship between here and Earth," Colt said. "I powered all the systems down and locked them up tight. The only thing functioning is the engines."

"So..." Ford asked.

"Yeah, he'll be dead in less than a week." Colt sighed. 

"Wait, why?" Amano asked. 

"He thinks he can just reconfigure the power distribution and slow the ship down, but he can't." Colt said. "He doesn't understand the control systems well enough to hack his way around what I did to keep them secure. He doesn't have enough time with life support turned off." 

"There's nothing we can do now," Ford growled. "Let's go."

Ford waived the science team into the gate. Natock followed them through, leaving Colt and Ford looking at the sky where the ship had vanished. They scowled at each other and then Colt stepped through the gate. Ford looked back up at the sky once more, and then followed Colt.


End file.
